The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1887-07-14

slohTLess CADETS At DRILL.
Blind B"ys Marching and Going Through
the Manual Of Arms.

Blind B"ss Marching and Going Through
the Manual Of Arms.
Sixty boys I'm military uniform, whose
sightlesss eyes were blind to the sunlight
which trickled through tho leaves of the trees
above their heads, and who could not recog-
nize the faces OF the friends and kinsmen who
surrounded them, marched and drilled tho
other day III the grounds Of the Pennsylvania
Institution for the Instruction of the Blind
with the precision Of veterans The drilling
OF the cadets is q feature Of this institution,
and it Is an original feature, to which there
is none similar in this country. The patience,
the study and time spent upon this branch Of
instruction presents q reward i'll the improved
bearing of the little soldiers, and in the health
which the exercise gives them.
+ When the cadets marched from the gym
nasium to the play ground it was almost I'M
possible to believe the miniature militiamen
were blind. Their shoulders were squared,
their heads erect and their step was firm and
regular. The nuZZes of their nuskets made
an unwavering line Of light, and the red
stripes on their blue trouser legs rose and fell
with the regularity of machine 1t was the
final full! dress drill of the cadets, and all of
their friends and relations and the friends Of
the institution were gathered around the
which saluted the cadets as they filed past was
the only knowledge they had of the near
presence Of hundreds of spectators. The left
hand of each boy rested, as he marched, ON
the left shoulder of the boy preceding him.
The first boy in each company could Sec
Comnadanr Maj. King directed the bat
talon to ground arms" and at the word
every gun touched the ground at the same
moment. The cadets separated and stood at
two yards distance. Then at the spoken COM
mand they went through q calistLenic drill,
clappmg their hands, raising their arms and
swinging them like SO many automatons work
ed by the same piece Of mechancism
1t was only when the boys bent over to
! touch the ground with their finger tips that
there was any irresularity; then the difference
| in height of the cadets made it impossible for
the long limbed boys to recover themselves as
quickly as did their younger comrades The
| guns wore picked up and the command was
| given. ''Twos, threes and fours, forward II
| The ranks broke and there was q scattered
movement to tho right; the right hands and
arms of the cadets held their muskets firm and
the left hands moved anxiously in search OF
a::cohpan!on's shoulder. BY some instinct fine,
than sight itself, the moment tue wandering
fingers of cadet touched the person OF q
conrade he seemed to know instantly that il
was the man he sought.
In few seconds the battalion was formed
LII close ranks OF two. As the ranks marched
and countermarched, broke and reformed
thcsothcr inmates of the institution sat ant
stool i'll groups around the wallis guessing
from the words Of the command what thei
companions were doing Among them was
large, heavily built man, who sat with ON
hand over his sightless eyes and with tin
! other clasped in both of those of littlo girl
She called him father, and as the drill wen
on told him as graphically as child coul,
what her black pretty eyes saw before her
and how and what the cadets were DOING
| Philadelphia Press